Our phone service will be limited for the Victorian public holiday on Tuesday 3 November 2026.
Annual Report 2025-26
7 October 2026
Our FY2025–26 Annual Report reflects a year of growing complexity for consumers and the communications sector. While complaint numbers declined overall, 53,834 people came to us with phone or internet problems. Throughout the year, we resolved disputes, advocated for better consumer protections, drove industry improvements and helped shape a fairer, more accessible communications environment.
Message from the Ombudsman
Communications services have never been more important to Australians, and when things go wrong, the impacts can be immediate and significant.
This year, the TIO responded to increasing complaint complexity, changing consumer expectations, and ongoing demand for accessible dispute resolution. Alongside resolving complaints fairly and independently, we invested in improving our services, strengthening our data and digital capabilities, and advocating reforms that better protect consumers.
Data highlights and insights
More than 160,000 people contacted the TIO
We received 162,885 contacts overall, including 97,881 online enquiries and 65,004 phone calls.
Mobile services remained the most complained about
We received 24,880 complaints about mobile services, a decrease of 3.5 per cent on FY2024-25.
Fewer people returned with unresolved complaints
14,953 people came back to the TIO after their first referral to their provider, down 8.1 per cent on FY2024-25.
We received fewer complaints this year
53,834 complaints were received, down 6.5 per cent on FY2024-25.
Explore our complaints data
Delve into our FY2025–26 complaints data and outcomes through our interactive dashboards in the Data Hive.
This year in complaints
Every complaint represents a person, household or small business experiencing a problem with a phone or internet service.
In FY2025–26, we received a total of 53,834 complaints, down 6.5% compared to 2024-25. Australians continued to contact the TIO about issues including connection delays, outages, billing problems, poor coverage, and providers failing to take action when they needed help.
Mobile services remained the largest source of complaints, while internet complaints continued to account for a significant share of the TIO's work. The year also saw increases in complaints relating to unconscionable conduct, non-financial loss and delays establishing services.
These complaints do more than identify individual problems. They provide valuable insight into emerging issues across the sector and help inform our efforts to drive better outcomes for consumers for all Australians.
Complaints by state
By state, New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria had the highest complaint numbers overall at 16,827 and 15, 372 respectively. This was followed by Queensland (9,932 complaints), Western Australia (4,560 complaints) and South Australia (4,008 complaints).
For a more detailed breakdown of complaints by location, demographics and issue type, visit the Data Hive.
How we've helped others
Read more about Thelma could not contact help in an emergency- Faults
- Customer service and sales
Thelma could not contact help in an emergency
When Thelma’s landline stopped working, she lost her only reliable way to call for help. She turned to the TIO for assistance.
Read more about Margaret’s struggle to work because of unreliable mobile services- Faults
- Billing or debt
Margaret’s struggle to work because of unreliable mobile services
Margaret relies on her mobile service for work, but ongoing coverage and internet issues made it difficult to stay connected.
Read more about Ben spent more than six weeks without internet after a connection delay- Faults
- Customer service and sales
Ben spent more than six weeks without internet after a connection delay
Ben completed the work needed to connect his internet, but a provider delay left him offline for more than six weeks and unable to work from home.
Read more about Jacob’s small business page was hacked- Scams, spam and fraud
- Customer service and sales
Jacob’s small business page was hacked
Jacob relied on social media to run his business. After his account was hacked and held for ransom, he contacted the TIO for help.
- Read more about Thelma could not contact help in an emergency
- Faults
- Customer service and sales
Thelma could not contact help in an emergency
When Thelma’s landline stopped working, she lost her only reliable way to call for help. She turned to the TIO for assistance.
- Read more about Margaret’s struggle to work because of unreliable mobile services
- Faults
- Billing or debt
Margaret’s struggle to work because of unreliable mobile services
Margaret relies on her mobile service for work, but ongoing coverage and internet issues made it difficult to stay connected.
- Read more about Ben spent more than six weeks without internet after a connection delay
- Faults
- Customer service and sales
Ben spent more than six weeks without internet after a connection delay
Ben completed the work needed to connect his internet, but a provider delay left him offline for more than six weeks and unable to work from home.
Glossary and help
- View data and complaint terms about Data and complaints terminology
Data and complaints terminology
This section explains the finer points of our data and defines the terms we use in our reports.
- View complaint issues and keywords about Complaint issues and keywords
Complaint issues and keywords
Issues in complaints are recorded based on six broad categories that follow the lifecycle of a consumer’s relationship with their phone or internet provider. A single complaint can have more than one issue.
Questions?
For more information, email[email protected]
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